Air conveyor systems currently are among the most convenient and reliable means of moving articles, especially empty packages and containers such as cans, from one workstation to another in any of a variety of industrial plants. Typically, an article in such an industrial plant undergoes a variety of processing steps at a number of different workstations which may be connected by air conveyors. In this regard, a number of circumstances arise wherein articles need to be transferred to or from an air conveyor. A prevalent prior art device for transferring articles is a mechanical arm or gate. One disadvantage of mechanical arms is their inherent unreliability due to the moving parts therein. Another disadvantage of prior art mechanical arms is that as they maneuver into position to transfer articles they may damage articles.